The creators of the C64 Ultimate, a recreation of the iconic ‘80s personal computer that uses an FPGA chip to accurately replicate the original, have announced a follow-up version that continues in its predecessor’s footsteps. The original Commodore 64 first debuted in 1982 and was followed by the Commodore 64C in 1986, which was functionally nearly identical but introduced a slimmer case and a more modern color scheme. It’s the same story for the new Commodore 64C Ultimate. It gives the C64 Ultimate a welcome facelift, but there’s no new functionality.
To make the C64C an authentic recreation of the original – at least on the outside – the reborn Commodore reacquired the exact same injection tooling molds that were used to manufacture the original’s plastic housing 40 years ago. The new C64C Ultimate even features faint semi-circular marks on its housing resulting from melted plastic cooling unevenly inside the molds; a sign of authenticity that would be overly-complicated to fake.
As with the C64 Ultimate, the new C64C Ultimate features upgrades like Wi-Fi, USB, and an HDMI port for connecting it to modern displays. But it also carries forward the same ports from the 1986 version of the computer and is compatible with its ‘80s-era peripherals like floppy disk and cassette drives. It’s available for preorder now starting at $299.99 with shipping expected as early as September, while more premium versions that add upgrades like LED lighting, translucent case, and gold keycaps go up to $499.99.